Two CMU students are trying to remind people why getting involved in
public health initiatives is important.

Marquette junior Tamara Brumm and alumna Katherine Klein shared
their experiences in helping with public health issues Wednesday night
during the 12th annual Elizabeth Lockwood Wheeler Lecture Series in the
Bovee University Center Auditorium.

Around 100 students attended the forum, “Public Health Initiatives
at Home and Abroad: A Student Perspective,” which was sponsored by Eta
Sigma Gamma.

“I liked the approach that was taken for traveling to spread
awareness for AIDS,” said Jon Ronnebaum, a Lake Orion senior who
attended the event. “It was a good message.”

Brumm’s experiences came from an internship she completed in New
Orleans after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

While in Louisiana, she helped make sure shelters met health code
guidelines and delivered hot meals to hurricane victims.

Klein promoted HIV/AIDS awareness in Africa and Russia.

Lack of education and money is why the HIV infection spreads so
rapidly in Africa, she said. Russia has the fastest growing rates of
HIV because of the use of shared needles.

Klein said she developed her passion for AIDS awareness on a trip to
New York through one of CMU’s Alternative Spring Breaks. While there,
she was able to educate over 3,000 on the HIV virus and how to prevent
contracting it.

Klein said she plans to go to Egypt next.

Students who went to the presentation said they enjoyed it.

“It was very educational and something we need to see more of,” said
Chloe Ramey, Ferndale sophomore. “The pictures also really brought out
the presentations.”

Others students said they were surprised by some of the statistics
discussed.

“What I found the most interesting was that one-half of the world’s
cases of HIV were among African women,” said Sara Ledwidge, Armada
freshman.

The annual lecture series commemorates the legacy of Elizabeth Ann
Lockwood Wheeler Anspach, a former CMU professor who pioneered CMU’s
public health education program in 1960s and participated in many
public health programs across the nation.

E-mail the author: defaultuser